


Weather the Storm

by andantecantible



Category: Sixth Sense - Brown Eyed Girls (Music Video)
Genre: F/F, Misses Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 21:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/299993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andantecantible/pseuds/andantecantible
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While she was usually an optimist, something about the frenzied, unpredictable way the resistance made their first move against the corrupt government upset Jea. The rebels professed they sought freedom, but created chaos instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weather the Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dagas isa (dagas_isa)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dagas_isa/gifts).



Jea woke up to the sound of sirens wailing, gunshots, and hallowed screams coming from the live television report. She found Miryo already sitting in the living room, eyes glued to the violent images rapidly flashing on the screen. Jea sat down next to her, took the remote control from her hand, and pressed the mute button.

While she was usually an optimist, something about the frenzied, unpredictable way the resistance made their first move against the corrupt government upset Jea. The rebels professed they sought freedom, but created chaos instead.

“I hate this,” she said.

“That’s how it works, Jea,” Miryo told her. “You can’t expect things to get better around here without something or _someone_ blowing up.” Miryo said the last part with a tinge of humor in her voice, but Jea knew there was truth in her words.

Miryo always deflated Jea’s soft-hearted ideas and called herself a pragmatist, not a dreamer. It was one of their many differences, but also one of the reasons they got along so well. Jea could not recall a time when Miryo didn’t open her eyes to another possibility, another kind of truth.

“Things can’t be beautiful without being ugly first,” Miryo added, stroking Jea’s long hair out of her face in a soothing rhythm.

How often Jea longed to walk hand in hand with Miryo out in the open without being afraid of being arrested or worse, beaten or shot. Would the resistance be successful in changing things for the better? Would she be able to be kissed by Miryo in the sunlight?

Jea smiled. “I love it when you do that,” she said, relaxing under Miryo’s touch.

Miryo merely grunted, half focused on Jea and half focused on the television screen. They sat in silence until the news was replaced by a morning talk show.

 

*~*

That night, Jea dreamt she was tied up in the Parliament fountain and drowned to death.

In her dream, Miryo didn’t come looking for her. She was too busy fighting, a natural rebel, born to lead. She found out about Jea’s death later, after the resistance had won, and only said, “You can’t have life without death first.” Always a realist.

Jea woke up crying so hard she was shaking. Miryo stirred awake and put her arms around her as if trying to squeeze her calm.

“It’s okay,” Miryo said. “You had a bad dream.”

“You didn’t look for me,” Jea whispered hoarsely, still crying.

Miryo squeezed her tighter, kissed her hard on the mouth. “Don’t be stupid,” she said. “I’d look for you anywhere.”

*~*

Miryo hated waiting. “I’m going,” she said. “I can’t stand here while our future is being decided. I’m going to fight.”

Jea had been expecting this. Miryo had spent the last two days pacing around the house, making frantic phone calls to her friends and family, looking out the window and ignoring the reports coming from the television, claiming they were biased and untrue. At night, after making love, Jea felt Miryo tossing and turning next to her on the bed, sleepless.

“It isn’t safe out there,” Jea said.

“It won’t be safe in _here_ much longer,” Miryo replied. “Ga-In and Narsha are already planning on joining the resistance. There’s a big group planning on overthrowing Parliament tonight, it’s already been decided. We all have nothing to lose.”

“How do you even know all this?” Jea asked. This wasn’t the kind of information that was being given out on television. In fact, reports said that the resistance was growing weaker each day due to a lack of organization and resources. The President had even made a grand speech that very morning declaring the futility of the protests.

“Word’s getting around,” Miryo said. “Are you in, Jea?”

Jea couldn’t stand to look into Miryo’s fierce eyes at that moment. She felt so weak in comparison. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know if I can.”

*~*

Jea sat on the bed and watched as Miryo applied her makeup: midnight black eyeliner, a vibrant lipstick, a bit of blush on the apples of her cheeks. She was beautiful, strong.

“You’re going out to protest, not to sing in a show,” said Jea, trying to be lighthearted despite the palpable anxiety flowing through her body.

“Is there a rule that says I can’t look good for both?” Miryo asked, laughing a little. She fussed over a strand of unruly hair. “Anyway, it feels like I’m putting my game-face on. If I look brave, I’ll be brave.”

“You are brave,” Jea told her, holding back tears. “You’re the bravest person I know.”

*~*

Jea hated herself for not going. She hated the snooty television reporter who said that the resistance was only made out of a small group of deranged people who had most likely fallen into the trap of a charismatic cult leader. She hated that the government expected its people to be stupid enough to believe that everything was okay, that it had been okay for years and years, despite the evidence of famine, corruption, and unfair laws that stripped everyone of their basic rights. She thought of Miryo, who never held back when it came to questioning what was real and what was not, what should be considered good and bad. Jea loved that about Miryo; she wished she could be like that.

*~*

Despite the growing crowd, Miryo was able to find Narsha and Ga-In.

“Where’s Jea?” asked Narsha.

“She couldn’t come,” Miryo said.

“Couldn’t or _wouldn’t?_ ” asked Ga-In.

Miryo shrugged, a sign that she wasn’t in the mood to give further explanations.

She looked around at the faces of the people in the crowd: mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, determined, ready for anything, ready to change their world. She saw herself in the sea of people, the girl she’d once been, the woman she was, the woman she could become. Only Jea was missing.

*~*

Jea poured herself a cup of tea and drank it in front of the television. Was Miryo okay, she wondered. Would they see each other again?

*~*

When she left, Miryo refused to say goodbye. “I’ll be back,” she simply said. “So don’t worry too much.”

But Jea’s optimism had already grown thin. “Please stay,” she had begged. Miryo only kissed her on the cheek and said, “We’re going to weather this storm, Jea. You just wait.”

*~*

Jea took a last sip of tea. She grew restless; she felt useless.

If Miryo returned safe and sound like she promised, would she be able to look at Jea the same way?

Would she be disappointed in her?

No, Jea thought. Miryo wasn’t like that; she understood that Jea was scared, that it wasn’t easy for her to make such quick decisions. Jea often mulled over even the smallest decisions: what kind of ice cream to buy for Miryo’s birthday party, how to begin a letter to her parents.

But, Jea thought, if Miryo returned like she promised, would _she_ be able to forgive herself? That she wasn’t so sure about.

*~*  
It was time. Come morning, everything could change.

“I love you, Jea.” A small whisper coming from inside the moving crowd.

*~*  
Jea turned off the television. Nothing felt right. In a few minutes, the resistance would be moving forward. Jea didn’t want to be left behind.

But she was afraid. She was afraid as she quickly applied her makeup, mimicking Miryo’s game-face ritual. She took two deep breaths before she opened the door and stepped outside into the moonless night. She heard sirens in the distance; the police were surely on their way now, thought Jea, fists subconsciously clenched.

And she ran. She was late, but a coward no longer. She ran despite her heaving breath, her tired legs. When she arrived at the Parliament gates, she was astounded to see that the resistance had grown. It felt like the whole city was willing to fight.

Hot tears ran down Jea’s cheeks. Miryo. They would march hand in hand, a big _fuck you_ to the government that claimed they were sinners, diseased. A _fuck you_ to everything that was wrong in their world.

She squeezed inside the crowd. Miryo. They would find each other. “I’d look for you anywhere,” Jea whispered, remembering Miryo’s promise. This was only the beginning of the storm.


End file.
